Microfluidic devices and systems are commonly used in the art for processing and/or analyzing of very small samples of fluids. In such microfluidic devices and systems, the integration of many elements in a single microfluidic device has enabled powerful and flexible analysis systems with applications ranging from cell sorting to protein synthesis. Some microfluidic operations that are functional to the performance of said applications include mixing, filtering, metering pumping reacting sensing heating and cooling of fluids in the microfluidic device.
Many different approaches have so far been explored for performing said operations in a microfluidic environment, including combining thousands of lithographically defined components, such as pumps and valves, into chip based systems to achieve control over reagents concentrations and reactions' performance.